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Casebook Read Credits
Torts - Fall 2015 Reading Group
Resource 15 . 1
4 minutes

In re Polemis

Samantha Bates,
Jonathan Zittrain

Should defendants be directly liable for their negligence, even if the type of damage was not reasonably foreseeable? Stevedores (dockworkers) employed by the defendant accidentally knocked over a wooden plank while moving cargo on plaintiff's ship. The fallen plank somehow created a spark, which ignites the ship's flammable cargo. Plaintiff's entire ship is destroyed as a result.

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